A Simple Plan: A Novel

Summary

Hank Mitchell thought he lived an ordinary, ordered life. But on one chilly afternoon, Hank, his brother Jacob, and Jacob's unsavory pal Lou, make a discovery that offers a chance for a life filled with riches beyond their wildest dreams. And in a fateful moment, Hank lays a plan to claim that life... and the horrific crumbling of his ordered world begins.

Reviews

A SIMPLE PLAN is a modern-day morality tale. In a relentless progression, the novel demonstrates how quickly ordinary people can stoop to committing the most horrendous acts, and how easily they can justify it to themselves. It begins with a situation that we can all imagine ourselves in: Three guys discover a downed plane with a duffel bag full of money and a dead pilot on-board. Once they decide to take the money -- concocting a "simple plan" to make sure they don't get caught -- they become enmeshed in a series of escalating events that seem inevitable.SPOILERS AHEADThis book is a fast, suspenseful read, and my only quibble with it is that the climax seems a little off. It seems like too much when Hank commits the two murders in the liquor store, and any remaining sympathy for him dissipates when the reader realizes that he comes pretty close to being a psychopath. I think the movie adaptation's climax was more effective, as it ties up all the missing ends. Despite that, the novel was both entertaining and stomach-churning, and I enjoyed reading it.

A violent page-turner let down somewhat by a writing style that occasionally jarred me as simplistic and perhaps patronising. I did, however, finish the final third at top speed - the plot will get its hooks into you.

"A Simple Plan" has a simple premise - a group of people come across a whole bunch of money and then devise a plan to keep it - and not get caught. Smith turns this premise into a riveting suspense novel, with prose that is crisp and fast-paced. Smith is talented at plotting and setting a scene, but I think his strongest suit is the way he describes his characters - they are believable and relatable. If you've already seen the also-excellent film adaptation, the book still has some surprises in store. The movie differs from the book in several key plot points; about three quarters in, the book takes a pretty different (and pretty shocking) turn. Towards the end, the plotting got a bit excessive and strained believability, but overall, I think this is an excellent novel, and definitely impressive for a debut novel.

A Simple Plan is one of the best books I've read in recent years. Not only is it well-written, it takes a close look at the impact of our choices and explores the gray area of ethics. There are so many angles in this book - it just makes you think for months after you stop reading it. A sense of foreboding permeates the entire novel. It proceeds like an accident that you can't look away from. You want to scream at the characters - don't do that! - because some of the actions are painful to watch, yet utterly human.

A Simple Plan was definitely a fast read, which is wonderful on those I'm-so-sick-of-the-television-but-I-don't-feel-well days.The story is full of twists that you know you should see coming, but still don't until the paragraph where it is revealed. Boiled down, normal man finds (a lot of) money; man tries to plan keeping the money; man's plan falls apart, time after time after time; man has to take another step in order to meet goal of keeping money.It is a well written exploration of the evolution of greed and human desire. I found myself questioning my own choices, though not on such a grand scale, wondering if the snowball effect that Hank is put through is something that I could ever survive. Would I ever be driven to take the same type of line of action, or would I be able to stop myself? How much would it depend on the grandness of the promise of my future?It got to a point where I wanted to just be done with the book, but that wasn't until about page 360 of 400. When I hit that point, I knew that I wanted the main character to be punished for the story line, but I have to admit it was nice not knowing for sure which resolution I wanted until that close to the end of the book. I found myself respecting the punishment which was dealt out, too, realizing it was a more perfect fit than I could have hoped for.I would recommend it, if not highly at least with some earnestness, to those looking for a good summer read.

I thought this was a very interesting story that showed how things can get out of control very fast and shows how greed is truly the root of all evil. I was not thrilled with the ending however. I think his 2nd book, "The Ruins" is much much better.

Quick, easy read. Wasn't truly monumental...I didn't really love it. But something about it kept me attached. I'll steal from the review from the Chicago Tribune. "[It was] like watching a train wreck. There is nothing to be done, but it is impossible to turn away."

I liked the snowball effect in this story ... it starts out very simple and then gets more and more out of control. Once you take the first step in a plan, how easy or necessary is it to keep going? Very enjoyable.

This is not something I'd usually read.I bought it at an airport many years ago when I was afraid I was going to run out of the reading material I'd packed. That didn't happen, so it sat around for a number of years till I got round to reading it.Not much to say: it's a well-written thriller, better than most in the genre.